


Keep Me Afloat

by goodmorningvietnam666



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bad Days, Comfort, Confessions, Derek represses his sweet side, First Kiss, M/M, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, it's really kind of adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 16:19:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3417341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodmorningvietnam666/pseuds/goodmorningvietnam666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Friday's are usually pretty damn great.</p>
<p>Not this Friday, this Friday is making Stiles feel like he's about to explode. </p>
<p>But then Derek Hale turns up and everything gets... better</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep Me Afloat

He was having a really, really bad day. 

It had all started with a fight he and Scott had managed to get themselves into the night before: one about his 'human-ness' and how easy it was for him to get hurt, which spiralled into what could only be called a shouting contest. His throat still felt raw and tender. 

Now, at school, they had turned to blatantly ignoring each other, even if they knew they would forgive one another within the week they could still hold grudges like nobody's business. Once, when they were small and time wasn't really something they'd understood, they'd managed to give each other the silent treatment for a full three hours before crumbling into laughter that came from true friendship: the laughter that didn't need a joke before it. 

Stiles could already feel himself crumbling: it had been a long week - Friday couldn't have come sooner because he was ready to shove his head into his pillow and scream until he passed out. Six rogue werewolves - six - had entered Hale pack territory in the span of four days, and the entire pack was exhausted because it had taken a lot of effort to chase them all off: that's how and he and Scott had fought - he'd gotten hurt, but in his defence it was his own clumsiness that achieved it and not an enraged Omega. 

He hated being human when Scott got worried about him: he always felt so fragile. 

Because Scott was ignoring him, Stiles found it hard to sit around the pack, and distanced himself as much as possible, caving and gaining the bravery to sit with Jackson for the day, receiving a nod of recognition from the jock and falling into the most awkward conversation of the week (then he'd found out Jackson was a Dodgers fan and suddenly he was back to his talkative self - getting into the most good-natured argument he and Jackson had ever been in). 

So, even though not sitting with Scott was awful - it wasn't life ending. 

Class on Friday was never fun, but it seemed like every teacher they had had conspired against him today, and by the final bell if he heard another threat for a detention, or was asked to answer another question he was sure he would scream. 

He was glad to be out - because that meant he could go home, push through the math homework he'd been given and then watch Firefly like Cora had told him to until he fell asleep and the weekend rolled by. 

As if Friday had decided to screw Stiles over properly today, another bad thing happened - his Jeep's engine had died on him in the school parking lot. He didn't have the heart to kick his favourite thing in his life and so held his temper, calling a mechanic and knowing that he wouldn't have any luck with saving for new parts or paint now. 

Walking was good for you, he decided as he started towards home, shoving his hands in his pockets and quietly fuming against his attempted optimism, walking would help calm him down. 

He heard the rumble of the Camaro before he saw it roll up beside him, driving on the wrong side of the road so Derek could achieve eye contact from within the vehicle - clad in his traditional leather jacket which _still_ had it's cuffs undone and Stiles had no idea why that annoyed him so much. 

"Where's the Jeep?" his friend (they'd been through enough now that Stiles had decided that yes - they were definitely friends) asked in concern "Finally break down on you?"

He knew it was intended as a joke, and he had very much intended to laugh - but it ended up breaking him and he chocked out a sob, surprised at how quickly tears came and trying to stifle them hurriedly - it was bad enough he'd cried in front of Derek once - he didn't really want to do it again. 

"Come on, let me give you a lift" Derek's voice had turned soft, concerned, as he tried to maintain eye contact with Stiles while watching the road. 

He nodded because he wasn't sure he could keep himself upright let alone walk home - and he trusted Derek an insane amount - sometimes it scared him. He slid in and they were finally on the right side of the road which made him breathe a little easier. They didn't speak, Stiles only because he didn't like the way his voice sounded when he cried and Derek because that was just how his friend was - silent. 

They pulled into his drive way and Stiles made another effort to stop the flow of tears and let out a watery chuckle. 

"Sorry" he said softly "I hate crying" he paused for a moment to make tentative eye contact with his friend "It's been a really bad day" 

A gentle hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed softly and looked as if he was going to say something, but apparently changed his mind and reversed out of the driveway, rocketing off back onto the main road.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked after about twenty minutes of silence when Derek headed towards the rarely used road that headed up the nearby hills. 

It was actually a well known make-out point for teens, but for some reason Stiles didn't imagine Derek wanted to steam up the windows of the Camaro with him. He laughed at the thought and then quietened, watching the road roll by. 

From the hills the view was almost as good of Beacon Hills as it was from the preserve, and Stiles sighed softly, feeling both crowded by the other cars hanging around the hill but at the same time he felt a sense of privacy within the Camaro, as if somehow they were completely alone.

It felt safe.

"He's just scared Stiles, you don't heal in the span of seconds and hitting a wall hard enough knocks you out… you're both close, and you're both protective - but sometimes you need to hear him out"

It was probably one of the longest sentences he'd ever heard from Derek Hale and Stiles tried to be angry - because this was the same speech everyone else in the pack tried to give him… but this was different, or, it felt different. 

"But I'm not glass!" he exclaimed "If I want to be by Scott's side I will be: I don't care how much danger that puts me in" Stiles wanted someone to get this, because no one did - they always played the 'I understand that but…' card. 

"Me too" Derek said softly, taking one of Stiles' hands in his own, eyes fixated on what was outside the Camaro "He seems to have that effect on people" 

Relieved that he wasn't receiving a lecture Stiles sighed and leant back into his seat and nodded "Thanks"

Derek hummed in response, brushing his thumb over the back of Stiles' hand in a gentle way and Stiles himself couldn't help but feel like melting. 

His crush on his friend was well-hidden from everyone - he thought - but it was still there and he was finding it increasingly hard to keep it hidden when he and Derek spent so much time together now. And the hand holding and hugging wasn't helping much - not that he thought Derek really recognised the intimacy of their relationship - he was a tactile person, it made perfect sense. 

"You scare me sometimes Stiles" Derek said softly, shifting his gaze towards him "All that loyalty… Peter's not wrong about the werewolf thing… You'd die for him" 

Stiles refrained from scoffing at the mention of the eldest Hale and nodded, making eye contact with Derek and tightening his grip on that hand, before remembering the thing about his friend's cuffs and freeing his hands to do the jacket's wrists up "Of course I would" he said simply.

"I'd probably die for you before him" 

He wondered if he wasn't meant to hear it, but when he glanced up from his task he realised exactly how close they'd gotten "You don't mean that… he's your Alpha" he said, more to himself and sounding more unsure than he'd meant to. 

Derek hummed in response, bringing his hands up to cup Stiles' face, eyes glowing an iridescent blue as his thumbs brushed across his cheekbones. Stiles recognised after tugging his gaze away from Derek's that the werewolf was smiling softly: he looked so youthful at that moment, the moonlight lighting up his handsome features. 

One of his hands was still gripping Derek's wrist loosely, and so he used the other to press against the werewolf's shoulder, brushing his own thumb against warm skin beneath clothes and then Derek was pressing his lips to his and Stiles breathed in sharply through his nose in surprise. 

Friday was slowly improving. 

They broke apart almost as soon as they'd pressed together, and Derek looked as though he was going to say something but Stiles was to busy pushing back in, the initial surprise having worn off in favour of a nervous sort of confidence that felt both strange and exciting all at once. 

This time, neither of them hesitated, and Derek had him in the back seat in a matter of seconds. He pulled back and pressed his hands to the werewolf's chest, noting the bright glow of his eyes and feeling himself crumble beneath the gaze. 

"What were you going to say?" he asked once he'd caught his breath and had gotten over fact that he was lying beneath _Derek Hale_ in the _Camaro._

"What?"

"Before"

"Oh" Derek replied lamely, running a hand through his hair and grinning in a way that made Stiles' heart melt "I was going to say 'but you're my anchor'"

Stiles made a noise in the back of his throat and kissed Derek again, threading his hand's through dark hair and pulling him close "I've been crushing on you since Scott and I got trapped in the school"

Derek grimaced "Don't talk about Scott when I'm kissing you - it's weird"

"Who are you?"

"What?"

"You're not the Derek I know, who are you?"

"Would you prefer glaring and growling, I can do that" At this, Derek made a deep rumbling sound in his chest and Stiles felt himself shiver. 

"Is this a side of you I get to see more?"

"If you want to"

"I do" Stiles replied adamantly, before chuckling softly and playing with Derek's cuffs "We're steaming up the Camaro - I totally called this"

"You're so weird" Derek replied with that same grin on his face. 

"You're weird, if someone else from the pack has a bad day, do you take them up here and make out with them too?" 

"Yes, I've banged the whole pack in this back seat"

"I don't know why that's funny" Stiles replied with a grin, running his hands over Derek's back, pressing his fingers against leather and grinning "But it is"

"You're beautiful"

"You're a flatterer and I'm still not convinced you're Derek"

"Usually I repress this"

"I can see why, you're not really scary when you're acting like a normal human being" 

Derek chuckled and growled low in his throat, but only for a moment before he broke into soft laughter "I didn't plan any of this… I was just going to drive you home"

"I'm glad you didn't" Stiles replied sincerely. 

"Me too"

"Have you seen Firefly?"

"Cora talks about it"

"Wanna see it?"

"Sure"

Friday just got way, way better.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why but... this feels really rushed and I'm sorry if I lose you mid-paragraph - I tend to rant once I push into a character's inner thoughts... either way, thanks for reading!


End file.
